Syria: Cluster bomb attack ‘kills ten children’ as they play

Ten children died when a Syrian warplane dropped two cluster bombs as they played, activists have claimed.

Bombed out: A car passes damaged buildings after shelling by forces loyal to president Bashar al- Assad in the Damascus suburb of Darayya (Picture: Reuters)

Dozens of people were also wounded when a MiG fighter targeted the village of Deir al-Asafir, east of the capital Damascus.

‘None of those killed was older than 15-years-old,’ said anti-government campaigner Abu Kassem, who insisted the area did not harbour opposition fighters.

An unverified online video showed children’s bodies lying on the ground where 70 bomblets were found after Sunday’s attack. In another clip, a mother is seen grieving over her daughter’s body in a clinic.

Syria is not among the 77 nations which have signed an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpile of cluster bombs.

They are inaccurate and unreliable weapons which are said to pose unacceptable dangers to civilians.

Last month Human Rights Watch said the number of online videos claiming to show evidence of their use had risen. Syria said the allegations were ‘baseless’ because its forces do not possess the weapons.

However, Peter Bouckaert of New York-based HRW said the government has a ‘vast stock’. ‘This cluster attack gives a very graphic picture of what’s been happening for many months now,’ he said.

Jets also reportedly tried to bomb a school that was being used as a rebel base at Atimah, near Turkey, yesterday. There were also clashes in the Damascus suburb of Darayya.